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Theatre As a Skillbuilding Tool

Helping People Strengthen Connections With Themselves and Others //

Practicing theatre can help individuals overcome difficulties in physical, emotional, cognitive, or social functioning. These skills are particularly valuable for populations that might be more prone to experiencing hardships in these areas.

Through our Applied Theatre programs, we hope to change the outlook for these individuals and equip them with the tools they need to connect with themselves and others.

Explore // Express // Empower //

Explore

Theatre allows individuals to explore issues of shared concern.

Express

Theatre helps people learn how to healthily express their individual perspectives.

Empower

Theatre can empower people to make transformative choices, build coping skills, and develop support networks.

Our Applied Theatre Partners //

Bridges to a Brighter Future

Our partnership began with a drama elective offering as part of the Bridges Foundations summer program. Now, Warehouse Theatre Teaching Artists and Staff work with Bridges students throughout the year at Saturday College, host workshops and tours at the theatre, and partner with Life Skills and Essay Prep classes to increase student engagement. We also provide helpful transition exercises and facilitation during the Crossing the Bridge classes, especially for students preparing to enter their first year of college.

Thrive Upstate’s Head and Spinal Cord Injury (HASCI) Center

This unique program works with adults that have suffered from a traumatic brain injury and are on the road to recovery. For the past six years, we have worked with the HASCI Center’s staff and support group members to produce an original play. Our aim is to use individual survivors’ stories and experiences as the inspiration for our plays, inspire confidence in participants and hone basic and theatrical communication skills. We end up doing a whole lot more than that– with a lot of laughter in between. Many participants have shared that these performances are some of the only times they’ve felt seen and heard. We have presented our work at a state-wide Life With Brain Injury conference and at the Brain Injury Association Support Group Leaders training.

Applied Theatre Center’s Spectrum Group

In partnership with the Applied Theatre Center, Warehouse Theatre Teaching Artists work with young adults with autism who are specifically interested in theatre. We focus on Shakespeare, with our most recent productions being A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest. The program helps participants learn acting technique, social skills, and effective communication skills.

Want to learn more about our Applied Theatre Program?

Contact our director of education, Jay Briggs, to learn more.

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